Of Wizards and Angels
by RoseTyler10
Summary: Dean Winchester is a fifth year at Hogwarts and his younger brother, Sam, is a first year who manages to befriend the most dangerous person at the school: Harry Potter. So join Dean and some familiar friends as they fight to save Sam, Hogwarts, and the world, all the while maybe passing the OWL's? (Goes along with canon and is superwhopotterlock.)
1. Chapter 1

Patience was never a strong suit when it came to Dean Winchester and the housing ceremony was one of those times where the little patience he did contain was put to the test. Especially this year when his younger brother was to be placed.

Silence filled the Great Hall, only interrupted by the calling of names by Professor McGonagall, the name of the house proclaimed by the Sorting Hat, and the cheers from the respective houses. So really, it wasn't that silent in the Hall and those moments where the din calmed were filled with anxious anticipation. It was a joyous occasion, definitely one of the highlights of every year because everyone was filled with happiness at seeing their friends again and an overwhelming sense of coming home.

Yet this part always seemed to drag on for the eldest Winchester, because not only did he really not care who got put where, but they were seated in front of empty plates and forced to wait for the feast. His green eyes roamed around to the other tables, finally settling on his best friend's face who was turned towards the new group of first years, watching the ceremony with a certain level of interest. He turned to meet Dean's gaze almost instinctively and Dean was caught again in the trap of Castiel's blue eyes.

"Pay attention," Cas mouthed at Dean, a smile splitting across his face and touching his eyes.

"No," Dean mouthed back, smirking.

Cas just rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, shaking his head and focusing back on the ceremony. Dean sighed and figured he should pay attention as well, even though he really only cared about one name and "W" was practically at the end of the alphabet. Still, he half-heartedly clapped his hands when names like "Hermione Granger" and "Neville Longbottom" (which he also snickered at) were called and placed into his house, Gryffindor.

Finally a name was called that made everyone stop. There was no chattering or clapping or even breathing to be heard. It was so quiet in the Great Hall, Dean was sure if he were to drop a feather everyone would have heard it.

"Harry Potter."

Everyone knew who the boy was, even Dean. Sure he was a half blood, but he was a fifth year there; every child talked about the famous Harry Potter, 'the Boy Who Lived'. There had been rumors that he would be attending Hogwarts this year but no one had really known for sure. The rumors were of course true now as a skinny boy with unruly black hair and dorky glasses stepped forward and had the hat placed on his head.

He and the hat seemed to be having a discussion, the hat sometimes talked to people in their heads, but Dean wasn't really paying attention. His eyes had found his younger brother, Sammy, and he was trying to catch his eye.

Sam finally looked over at him, smiled and waved nervously. Some ginger-haired kid in front of Sam looked over at Dean and then whispered something to his brother to which Sam nodded. Probably asked Sam if Dean was his brother.

"Seems our siblings are getting along," someone whispered in Dean's left ear.

Turning, Dean saw Percy Weasley sitting next to him. He'd never really been fond of Percy, in all honesty the boy annoyed the hell out of Dean and the fact that he'd been made Prefect that year seemed to really boost his already huge ego, but Dean just nodded and mumbled a "yeah" and turned back in time to hear the Hat shout "Gryffindor!" marking Harry Potter as one of their own. He joined in on the clapping and even whooped as the young boy made his way to the table, smiling and sitting with a few of the other first years.

There weren't many other names after that, and the Weasley boys cheered pretty loud when their youngest brother Ron, who'd been the one talking to Sam, was placed into Gryffindor.

"Samuel Winchester."

Dean crossed his fingers as his younger brother walked up and sat on the stool. He felt a hand on his shoulder and smiled at his friend Jo, who was sitting to his right and smiling encouragingly at him.

This time Dean actually paid attention to what was going on and at first he was confused because the Hat was taking a few moments to place Sam. And the look on Sam's face worried Dean because his brother was not happy, he actually looked like he was about to start crying. Dean fidgeted in his seat, squirming under Jo's grip which she tightened. He didn't understand what was taking so long, the hat should just place Sam in Gryffindor with him like all other siblings. Brothers and sisters were usually placed in the same house, that's how things worked. So why didn't the hat just say-

"Hufflepuff!"

The clapping from the Hufflepuff table was a bit subdued due to the fact that everyone was stunned. Dean didn't know what to think or say. He looked over to the Hufflepuff table and saw Cas staring at him with worry on his face but also a plea, practically begging Dean not to freak out with his eyes.

Dean held it together, took a few breaths, and clapped for his brother who actually seemed fine and was currently making his way to his new table and sitting with a few of the first years.

"It has to be a mistake," Jo whispered, shaking her head and patting Dean's shoulder.

He shrugged her hand away and sighed. "The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes, you know that."

"Well, Hufflepuff isn't a bad lot. Plus Cas and Charlie are in there so they'll watch Sam," John Watson, a friend of Dean's and a fellow Quidditch teammate, whispered from across the table.

Dumbledore stood at his podium and began to make his usual announcements. The same thing every year, "stay out of the Forbidden Forest", "Mr. Filch is the caretaker, blah blah blah", "here's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher", and so on. Five years of attending the school and Dean was pretty much sick of listening to the same old speech over and over again. It's not that he didn't like Dumbledore, he was an alright guy who may have had a few screws loose in his head, but he talked so much and Dean really just wanted to eat and try to take his mind off the fact that his brother wasn't in the same house as him.

"And now, let the feast begin."

And with a flourish of his hands, the food magically appeared and Dean loaded his plate.

"Dean, slow down, it's not all going to magically disappear."

He looked up to see Rose Tyler laughing at him. She, John, and Jo were really the only close friends Dean had in Gryffindor house. Rose was beautiful with shoulder-length blond hair and big hazel eyes that were sheltered under long eyelashes. She shared the typical Gryffindor trait of bravery and aptitude for adventure, but she was also amazingly kind and empathetic.

John had short blond hair and dark blue eyes and was one of the bravest people Dean had ever met. He was always willing to lay his life down to protect others, even expressing the will to join the muggle army once graduating from Hogwarts. He didn't talk about that much though because of his boyfriend, Sherlock of Slytherin House. Sherlock had it in his head that he and John were going to become detectives of some sort once they left the school; it was an argument that they often had behind closed doors but John disclosed everything with Dean.

And then there was Jo. She was a year younger than Dean but saw herself as his equal in almost every way. She was pretty with long blond hair and chocolate brown eyes, and she was almost exactly like Dean. Sometimes that caused them to bump heads a little, but more often than not it helped them see things the same way. Except when he thought she was getting ahead of herself, then he would act like some sort of overprotective father and at those times she swore she almost hated him. But they were still good friends.

Jo laughed at what Rose said and Dean smiled sarcastically before taking a huge bite of a chicken leg. This caused everybody at the table to laugh and the good-natured feeling all around was enough to ease Dean's worry over his brother for a while.

"So where do you think they dragged that guy from?"

Dean looked up from his pudding to see Jo nodding her head towards the new DADA teacher. Dean hadn't caught the man's name, but he was sure he wouldn't have cared either way. The man looked squirrely, fidgeting in his seat while his eyes darted around the room nervously. And on top of that he was wearing a turban.

What the hell?

"I've got no idea, but someone needs to give him some Xanax or something."

Some of the kids looked at him with a weird expression and not wanting to give them an overview of "muggle medicines" he simply rolled his eyes and continued eating.

Pretty soon the food was cleared away and everyone was sent to their respective houses. Dean tried to catch up with Sammy but he had walked ahead with some other Hufflepuffs.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Dean turned towards the low voice and was met with a pair of unbelievably blue eyes and a kind smile. An urge to hug his best friend gripped him tight, but not wanting to make a scene, the eldest Winchester flashed Castiel a grin and breathed out a little sigh.

"Yeah, I know, I know, it just doesn't make sense. Siblings almost always go into the same house and for Sam to go somewhere else it just doesn't make any sense and I-"

Cas put a calming hand on Dean's shoulder. "Dean, everything's fine. You know nothing bad is going to happen to him, he's completely safe here. I promise Charlie and I will look after him and you can see him almost any time. Now go to your rooms, Snape's coming this way."

With one last smile, Castiel turned his back and walked away from Dean who was about to walk in the direction of his own house when a tall figure in black blocked his way.

"Mr. Winchester, how nice to see you again," came the condescending voice belonging to none other than Professor Severus Snape.

"Likewise, Professor. Tell me, did you do something with your hair," Dean asked, forever unable to keep his snarky comments to himself.

Snape made a clicking noise with his tongue and crossed his arms, regarding Dean with absolute lack of care. "Is this really how we are going to start our year, Winchester? I thought as you aged you would grow some sort of intelligence."

"Well the day you actually teach me something worthwhile is the day I will grow some intelligence, sir. Now, I apologize Professor, but I must retire to my room. Have a pleasant evening." He formally bowed and then spun around on his heels and started walking away.

"I will see you bright and early in the morning, Mr. Winchester."

"Sir, yes sir," Dean called over his shoulder.

* * *

"Looks like I got here just in time," he whispered into Rose's ear as he climbed through the hole into their common room. He'd gotten there just as Percy started his whole spiel about whose rooms were where and etcetera.

"Where did you go?"

"I got a little sidetracked by our favorite teacher," he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the back wall.

She rolled her eyes. "You didn't make us lose any points _already_ did you?"

He gasped in mock offense. "Rose Tyler, I can't believe you would assume that I would do such a thing. Have you no faith in me?"

"Excuse me, but I would appreciate it if everyone would remain quiet while I'm explaining this highly important information."

Both of them looked up to see Percy glaring at them.

"Yes, of course, please continue, Mr. Weasley, you have our undivided attention."

Percy shook his head in annoyance but did continue with his speech, which he had obviously prepared and memorized. Rose playfully punched Dean's shoulder.

"You need to stop that, you're going to get yourself into real trouble one day."

"Hey, come one, I'm an angel."

"Oh, please."

They both laughed to themselves, despite the occasional glare from Percy, and said goodnight as they were all dismissed to their rooms. Dean climbed the stairs until he reached the room for the fifth year boys and walked in. It was basically the same as every other room he'd had over the past few years and so he chose the bed he always chose: the furthest one from the door, next to the window.

John came in and dropped down onto the bed next to Dean, smiling like an idiot.

"Alright, what's got you so happy? It couldn't be the color of these lovely drapes, now could it?" Dean asked in a mocking tone.

"Oh, piss off, Dean," John laughed. "I'm just happy to be back and away from home."

_Aren't we all,_ Dean thought to himself.

He didn't like to think of home. The only good thing there for him was Sammy, and now that Sam was at Hogwarts with him there was literally _nothing_ redeemable about the Winchester home. It was a two-bedroom flat, and the small amount of space ensured the fact that the boys were never far from their neglectful, alcoholic father. He never hit the boys, but he did have a bit of an anger-control problem and he yelled. A lot. Their mother died when Dean was only four and apparently she'd been a witch but hadn't told John.

He found out the day Dean got his letter on his eleventh birthday. John Winchester was definitely shocked.

Dean really hadn't wanted to go because he didn't want to leave his brother behind for a whole school year with his dad, but luckily the landlady, a kind older woman, promised to take good care of Sam. She was a squib, a person from a magical family who didn't possess any magical talents whatsoever, but she was kind and good friends to the people of the magical community. In fact, most of her tenants were witches and wizards. The Holmes family were actually neighbors of the Winchesters, all under the care and watchful eye of Mrs. Hudson.

"Alright boys, now as I am the Prefect this year, I understand that you may feel slightly intimidated at being my friends considering I have such an important title, but I want you to be rest assured I am still just Percy Weasley and I am glad to be in your company."

John and Dean turned their heads to the curly haired ginger who had just strut into the room like an awkward peacock, almost tripping over his own robes. He was followed by two other boys, Greg Lestrade and Mickey Smith, and they both shared the same expression of utter disinterest as John and Dean.

Dean rolled his eyes and walked over to greet Greg and Mickey. He wasn't really close with them, Greg's best friend was Sherlock and Mickey used to date Rose before she broke up with him to date someone else, but because they were friends of his friends he considered them at least good acquaintances. Plus they'd shared rooms together ever since they got to Hogwarts.

"Hey guys, how was your summer?"

Greg reached over and shook Dean's outstretched hand. "Not bad, not bad. Really didn't do much though. How about yourself?"

Dean smiled as he shook Mickey's hand. "About the same. Hey Mickey, how's it goin'?"

"Just fine. Sorry about your brother."

The room went silent. Even Percy looked slightly uncomfortable, adjusting his pillow and sheets on the bed furthest from Dean's.

The Winchester just shrugged his shoulders though, not wanting everyone to see how upset he really was. "Eh, it's alright. It's not like anything's going to happen to him; Hogwarts is the safest place on the planet. Plus Cas told me he and Charlie would keep an eye on Sam and I trust them."

"That's true, so-"

"Excuse me gentlemen. Now, I'm sure I needn't remind you that as fifth years we are required to take the O.W.L.s this year and being as such I would suggest we all go to sleep at an earlier time so that we will get a good night's rest before classes each day."

"Perce, come on, can't we just-"

"Goodnight, Gregory. And to you all."

And with that, Percy climbed into bed, blew out the candle on his nightstand, and shut the drapes.

"Well, while princess gets her beauty sleep, I got some Berty Bott's Every Flavor Beans, you guys wanna have some fun?"

Everyone grinned and laughed at the evil smile on Dean's face and then they ran over to his and John's beds and made themselves comfortable as they ate the candy and laughed at each other. Of course, much to the annoyance of the Prefect.

And that was how they spent their first night back, laughing and joking around and generally just enjoying each other's company.

Such a shame how good things never last.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Feel free to leave kudos and maybe even a comment as to what you did and didn't like.****  
****I've been working on this story for a while now and this is about all I have for it at the moment. And considering I have a few other stories I'm working on all at once (I can't stay focused on the same one for too long) I won't be updating too often. So, I apologize in advance, but I still hope you liked it. And of course, favoriting and leaving positive comments (even critiques) make me more willing to write for a certain story.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Cas."

Castiel looked up from his books to see Dean setting his stuff down in the seat next to his. Smiling, he replied, "Hello, Dean. And how are you today?"

Dean sat down and took out his textbook, dreading the double Potions period, but glad that Cas was in the class as well. That would make things a lot easier and maybe even more fun.

"I'm pretty good. A little tired though, the guys and I were up pretty late last night eating-"

"A little chatty this morning, aren't we, Mr. Winchester? Tell me, since you seem so keen on talking, what are the five ingredients involved in creating a Drought of Peace?"

All the students looked expectantly at Dean while he just sighed and stared straight ahead. Snape had walked in the door at the back of the dungeon room and was standing right behind Dean, but he wouldn't give the professor the satisfaction of seeing the slight panic in his eyes.

Dean wasn't really the best at potions. He wasn't absolutely terrible, Greg was by far the worst in their year at the subject, but Dean just couldn't get the hang of it. There were too many rules and room for error, plus it's not like he exactly loved the teacher. Dean Winchester and Severus Snape most certainly did not get along; Dean thought Snape was unnecessarily cruel and condescending towards his students while Snape found Dean's snarky attitude and cheeky comments to be disrespectful and annoying. Therefore they continuously bumped heads and took any opportunity to anger the other.

Such as now.

"Well, Mr. Winchester, I'm waiting," Snape said smugly.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought I was getting in trouble for talking. Do you want me to answer your question or stop talking, because my simple mind is unable to comprehend what you are wanting me to do," Dean said in the most innocent voice he could muster.

A mixture of chuckles and groans came from the other students in the class as Snape simply walked past Dean and said, "Ten points from Gryffindor. Maybe that will help clear things up for you, Mr. Winchester."

"Of course, sir," Dean mumbled, kicking himself for being so blatantly rude but also not really caring that he pissed Snape off.

"Your life would be so much easier if you just learned how to be more respectful," Cas whispered in his ear as Snape began his lecture on how to actually make the Drought of Peace.

"If life was easy, I wouldn't be living it," Dean replied, grinning as Cas rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Sometimes I question why I choose to associate myself with you."

"And why is that," Dean asked as he and Cas pulled out some scrolls and copied down what Snape was writing on the board.

"Because you're a horrible influence."

Dean covered his mouth to prevent him from busting out laughing and he looked at Cas, his green eyes shining at his closest friend, not for the first time thinking about how grateful he was that they were friends.

Their friendship started out the way all the greatest friendships did: with absolute loathing.

Well, not _absolute_ loathing, but it was safe to say that the two did not like each other when they first met on the _Hogwarts Express._ Dean had been sitting in a compartment with Sherlock since the two at least somewhat knew each other from being neighbors when some dorky kid with bright blue eyes knocked on the door. He made some motion with his hands, obviously asking if he could sit with them. Dean waved him in and the kid sat right next to him. As in, so close if he moved an inch he could've been sitting in Dean's lap. Dean immediately recoiled, jumping up fast and hitting his head on the luggage rack above his head.

"Ouch! Dude, what the heck?! Don't you know anything about personal space," Dean yelled at the kid, all the while rubbing his injured head.

The boy didn't say anything, he simply scooted over to the complete other side of the bench, not meeting Dean's eyes once. Dean turned to look at Sherlock who had been quietly observing the scene with a passive expression and Sherlock simply looked Dean in the eyes and said, "I think he understands now."

Dean rolled his eyes and decided it would be best if he got out of the compartment before he strangled either Sherlock the Sass Master or the Boy Who Had No Concept of Social Graces. So he left and went to find one with more room and hopefully people who had more common sense.

After that they hadn't really seen each other until their first class together, which Dean was pretty sure was Herbology. When Dean had seen the weird kid as he walked into the room, he made sure to sit as far away from him as possible. Dean was positive that the boy hadn't noticed him and probably wouldn't have had for a while, but of course the teacher had to call role. Once she had called Dean's name he saw the kid look over at him out of the corner of eye. He did his best to ignore the kid and instead focused on the teacher and the lesson.

"Are plants really that interesting to you?"

Dean had turned and found a blonde girl sitting next to him, laughing at the fact that Dean was forcing himself to seem intent on the lesson, which honestly wasn't really that boring. He laughed a little.

"Not _that_ interesting, but interesting enough to want to pay attention. And besides, who wouldn't want to learn about magic plants?"

She laughed as well and introduced herself as Rose Tyler. He forgot about the odd boy for the rest of the day.

Dean wasn't exactly sure when he and Castiel became true friends, though he was sure the first time he felt like they would have a strong bond was the Winter Holiday later on that year. Most of the students had gone home for two weeks to spend the holidays with their families, but Dean had stayed at the school. Part of him felt guilty for wanting to stay because he missed his younger brother and wanted to see him, but he allowed himself to be selfish for once and he chose to stay at the happiest place he'd ever been. However, once the last call had been given and the few remaining students scheduled to leave had gone, Dean felt incredibly bad for staying. He was young and wanted to be selfish and away from his father for as long as possible, but he still worried about Sam. He spent the entire first day lying in his bed.

The second day he got up and went to the Great Hall for breakfast and took note of how empty it was, not many people had stayed, and every boy in his own dorm had gone home. He did notice, however, a pair of incredibly blue eyes watching him from a few tables away. He'd finally had enough of it.

Dean pushed away from the bench, strode across the Hall and plopped down right across from the kid. Those few students left in the room gasped and several of the professors raised their eyebrows. One of them, a man with oily black hair and sickeningly pale skin, stood and made to move towards Dean, however Professor Dumbledore put a hand on his arm and said, "Just for the holidays."

Dean ignored the exchange, though, as he glared at the boy sitting across from him. His blue eyes were deeply set into his lightly tanned face, and he had short, messy dark brown hair. His thin lips were set into a line that slightly resembled a frown, and he squinted as though he was trying to figure out an extremely difficult problem.

"What is your problem, dude? Why do you keep looking at me," Dean demanded.

The kid just stared at him, though he started to look a little nervous. He started to tap his fingers on his thumb and his eyes darted towards the door at the back of the Hall.

"Hey, Blue Eyes, I'm talking to you."

He looked back at Dean, and Dean was taken aback at how much this boy reminded Dean of himself when his dad yelled at him. He started closing up on himself, his shoulders slouched a bit and his head dropped so that he was almost looking up at Dean.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."

He was so quiet when he spoke, and his voice sounded so high pitched and clear, it made Dean paused and double check to make sure the person sitting across from him was a first-year boy.

"Well, you weren't ever really bothering me, except for on the train when you basically sat on top of me and then all those times you kept staring at me for like no reason," Dean replied a little more softly.

"I'm sorry."

Dean looked at the strange boy before sighing. "It's ok. What's your name?"

The boy looked at him curiously before answering, "Castiel."

Dean snorted. "That's a funny name."

Castiel winced as if the comment physically hurt him and he looked down again. "My mother liked it."

"Well, did you ever think about asking her to change it?" Dean laughed.

"I never got the chance, she died when I was born."

Dean stopped laughing and looked at Castiel, all of the sudden feeling guilty. If anyone in the world could relate to the sadness in Castiel's voice when he spoke of his mother, it was Dean. His own mother had died when he was younger in a house fire. Apparently the fire was a mystery to everyone, the firefighters couldn't find the source or any reason for there to have been one in the first place. Even at the age of four, Dean knew there was something different about that fire. He knew what a fire was, his parents had taken him camping before and they roasted generic marshmallows and told silly stories around the stereotypical camp fire. For some reason, though, the fire that took his mother struck him as almost unnatural. Until he'd received his letter to Hogwarts, he didn't believe in anything supernatural so he'd always dismissed the thought of an "unnatural" fire.

However, all things supernatural appeared to happen every day, so he no longer knew whether or not an unnatural fire was outside the realm of possibility.

"My mom died when I was younger," came Dean's quiet reply.

Castiel looked up at him with wide eyes, and then they changed to reveal an emotion so much deeper and older than what an eleven year old should have been able to feel; he seemed so empathetic.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, Cas, it's not your fault."

The blue eyed boy stayed quiet for a moment, long enough for Dean to give him a questioning look.

"You called me 'Cas'. Why?"

Dean stopped for a moment then busted out laughing, feeling complete happiness for the first time that winter break. He continued laughing even as Castiel looked at him worriedly, and then around to the other people at the table as if to ask them if they were sure Dean was alright.

Finally he had calmed down enough to answer the boy sitting across from him.

"'Cas' just fits you better."

Dean was brought back to the present time as Snape began assigning their homework for the night. Apparently they were to write an entire parchment on the lesson they'd gone over that day and all the practical uses of the potion they would be concocting in a few days.

"You have no idea what we talked about today, do you," Cas asked as they collected their books and left the dungeon.

Rose and John caught up with them and the group walked through the corridor and up the stairs as Dean explained that his daydreams were far more important than any words that spewed out of Severus Snape's mouth. Everyone laughed and made their way outside to one of the small courtyards and sat at the stone benches. They had a few minutes before they would be separated to their next classes so they figured they would loiter for a bit.

"So how was Sam last night? Did you see him this morning at breakfast? Was he eating? Did he look like he'd had enough sleep?"

"Whoa, Dean," Cas exclaimed, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder to try to calm him down.

"Yeah, take a chill pill, dude. Sam was fine, he actually seemed pretty happy," Charlie laughed.

"I told you that you wouldn't have anything to worry about," Rose said, playfully pushing Dean's shoulder.

"I'm just making sure he's alright, I mean, even you guys have to admit you were surprised when he wasn't placed into Gryffindor. It just doesn't make any sense," Dean explained.

"Well, you know as much as everyone that the Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes. It may not make sense to any of us, but it rarely ever does anyways," Charlie replied as the courtyard started filling up with other students making their way to various classes.

"Charlie's right, Dean," John commented as they all stood and started splitting up, "I mean, you saw that Longbottom kid that got sorted into our house last night right? Looked more scared than any other first year I've ever seen, but the Hat saw something in him that he believed made the kid right for us. Just let Sam live here a little while and give him a chance to grow, I'm sure he'll be quite the perfect little Hufflepuff."

Dean thought it over as he, Rose, and John said farewell to Charlie and Cas and headed towards their next class. Unfortunately it was History of Magic with Professor Binns. He was without a doubt the most boring teacher in the history of ever, he could quite literally bore someone to death. That of course being due to the fact that he was actually dead; the students all agreed that the most interesting thing he ever did was walk through walls to enter the room. And to top it all off, due to this being their fifth year at Hogwarts, they had to pay extra attention to all of the lessons because they were to take their O.W.L.'s at the end of the year.

The O.W.L.'s were standardized tests that basically determined which areas of magic a student held a firmer grasp of in hopes of narrowing down the career path that student had. They were rumored to be extremely hard and taxing and throughout his stay at Hogwarts the past few years, Dean had seen many a fifth year student having a mental breakdown in the common room or the library while studying. He'd even seen some Hufflepuff students starting support groups for people feeling too pressured by the tests. He wasn't particularly worried about the tests, Dean knew which class he'd get the highest score in, and it sure as hell wasn't History of Magic, no matter how many times Binns emphasized the importance of the giant wars.

The three settled in to desks closer to the back corner of the room while the rest of the students filed into the room wearing the same reluctant faces. No one really ever paid attention to the lesson, but listening to the professor talk was almost guaranteed to make someone fall asleep.

"So which extracurricular classes did you guys end up choosing," Rose asked quietly as Binns began reading the textbook in his monotonous drone.

"Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures," John answered lowly, pretending to take notes. He was about the only one and he only ever did it because he thought that it would make Binns happy to know that at least one student actually cared about his lesson. However, he never seemed to notice John's efforts.

"Arithmancy? Really? Why would," Rose started, then she quietly snickered, "Sherlock made you to take it with him, didn't he?"

John's face reddened as Dean made a whipping motion in his direction.

"I'll have you know, the study of the magical properties of numbers is extremely important a-and it, um, well it…oh shut up, both of you."

Dean and Rose shared a look and tried to contain their laughter so as to not alert Binns to them specifically.

"Anyway, what are you taking, Dean?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes."

"Why would you take Ancient Runes? That's almost as boring as History of Magic," John asked.

"What can I say? Looking at old pictures is my passion. And Cas said he'd take it with me since we weren't sure if we'd have any classes together. Plus, it's taught by Professor Singer this year, how bad could it be?"

The other two shrugged and agreed with him on that point. Professor Singer had taught DADA the year previous but didn't want to stick around because he swore up and down that the job was cursed. So he apparently talked to Dumbledore and was able to take over the Study of Ancient Runes class. He was one of the smartest teachers at Hogwarts, and his dry sense of humor made him relatable.

"I guess we're all taking Care of Magical Creatures, but John and I decided to take Divination together."

John Smith was Rose's boyfriend. He was sorted into Ravenclaw and was probably one of the smartest people Dean had ever met. Smith literally knew something about everything, although his personality was a bit quirky. He was a tall, wore thin glasses, and always griped about the fact that he had brown hair instead of ginger. People have offered to transfigure his hair color before, but for some reason he turns them down. Dean figured the guy just liked to complain. He was extremely nice though, always willing to help other people, and he and Rose made quite a power couple. He seemed to push her to reach her full potential and she was able to keep him grounded so that he wouldn't let his ideas run away with him. Having both of them take Divination together seemed to fit, they both loved looking towards the future.

"That sort of fits you two," Dean nodded and said more to himself.

The three continued talking throughout the class and then went to lunch. Dean tried to find his brother in the throng of people, but was unable to see him.

"You are going to literally worry yourself sick if you keep this up."

Dean paused his search to see that Jo had plopped down beside him.

"Hey, how were your classes?"

"Fine, mom, how were yours?"

"Alright, I don't appreciate the name calling," Dean replied as everyone else at the table laughed.

"Yes, ma'am," Jo said in a mocking tone while a few people snickered. "Anyway, I saw Sam walking to class this morning with a couple of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Guess who he was talking to?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter."

"Really," Rose inquired incredulously.

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked, the two looked like they were getting on pretty well. So you have nothing to worry about, Dean. Not only is he making friends, but he's got supposedly one of the most powerful wizards ever looking out for him. Now stop worrying him and eat your food," Jo laughed.

They all finished their meals and then reported to their last few classes of the day. Dean couldn't stop thinking about his little brother for the rest of the day, wondering if he was actually befriending Harry Potter, if he were scared at all, if he needed Dean. Of course if Sam were in any real trouble the professors would have alerted Dean, but for some reason all thoughts of common sense evacuated his mind when it came to making sure his brother was alright. It was a bit of a flaw, always seemed to get him into trouble, especially with his dad. If John Winchester ever yelled at Sam for something, Dean would step in. He just wanted to look out for his little brother, he never saw anything wrong with that.

Dean Winchester would do anything to make sure his brother was safe.

**A/N: So, yeah, an update. I know it's been like a SUPER long time, and it'll probably be some time before I put up another update, but I hope you guys can enjoy this for now and understand that I have a lot going on so I don't have as much time to sit down and write as I'd like. But I do love this story and I'd love to continue working on it, so never fear, I will continue trying to update it. Please feel free to leave any comments or concerns you have, they usually help motivate me to work on something.**


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